LIVELIHOOD SYSTEMS INSTITUTE

Transformation To Abundance

TRANSFORMATION TO ABUNDANCE: Introducing a Christian Economic System.

In this book, I will describe a path, a new plan, to reach the transformation to abundance. I will also describe how this plan can be implemented. This book is divided into two sections: (1) Material Abundance and (2) Spiritual Abundance. Abraham H. Maslow pointed out that the overarching problem of our time is to develop the Good Person in the Good Society. They must be developed in tandem, together, because they reinforce each other. No beautiful plan can be implemented unless people are wise enough, spiritually healthy enough and want to do things in the true and necessary way. We will show how a sustainable Middle Class can be created one region at a time.

The model for achieving Material Abundance is the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, located in the Basque provinces of Spain. It was founded in 1956 by a Catholic priest and five engineers. Mondragon is the seventh largest corporation in Spain, with 85,000 employees and 12 billion Euros in assets. It is a worker owned cooperative which eliminated the conflict between capital and labor. Their top priority is to create and sustain jobs, not mere profit-making. Mondragon has its own banking system with internal financing. It is competitive with capitalism because: 1. Mondragon makes high quality products, 2. Worker-owners manage themselves and 3. Mondragon does not have shareholders to pay. They have taken control of their community and their economic lives. They make decisions by balancing the needs of individual self-interest with the needs of the cooperatives and the community. They have a solid middle class life that has been tested for over 50 years. They have proven that alternative economic systems can be designed and implemented.

All plans are based on a set of values. All judgments are based on values. Therefore, the section on Spiritual Abundance will focus on the nature of values and the necessity of adopting universal values in our characters and in our institutions. As we shall see, this is the primary method for achieving material and spiritual abundance. It is the foundation for a Good Society and Good Persons.

When Jesus came into the Jewish world he found that the people were burdened under the oppressive structure of the brutal Roman Empire. Jesus did not try to lead a revolution as many Jews hoped the Messiah would do. Instead Jesus focused on the spiritual revolution inside each individual person. Once that was accomplished, the structures of greed, selfish egos and oppression could be replaced by enlightened institutions, based on the values taught by Christ.

The primary objection to adopting the universal values in society and teaching these values to our children is the insistence that “no one person or group of persons can tell everyone what to do.” This is understandable among humans, so it is necessary to appeal to a higher authority than humankind. I choose to adopt the values and teachings of Jesus. With an estimated 2.2 billion Christian followers, Christ’s teachings are accepted as truth, goodness and justice and pursuit of the common good, by an ever-growing number of people. We can have Material Abundance and Spiritual Abundance, but only if we overcome our selfish Egos, reject the False Self and find our True Self. The road may be long but the path is clear for those who would achieve Spiritual Abundance, with loving, sharing and cooperation.